Destined To Be
by JailyForever
Summary: A collection of soulmate AUs. (1) Body-Swap - James/Remus (2) Last words to soulmate on wrist - James/ Lily. (3) An unfortunate tattoo leads to Lily finding out who her soulmate is - James/Lily
1. A Universal Mistake? - RemusJames

**Subject:** Transfiguration

 **Task:** Write a Body Swap AU

 **Weekly Drabble:** Remus/James

 **Jewel Month:** Moonstone - Necklace: Soulmate AU

 **Word Count:** 558

* * *

A Universal Mistake?

"Are you ready?" James asked, nervously glancing at his watch.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Remus replied, picking at a loose thread on his cardigan. "And you? Ready to swap bodies with your soulmate?"

"I think so, but it'll be weird sitting down to relieve myself," James laughed. "I've not done that in years. But I suppose it'll be worse for my girl having to stand."

"Do you think our soulmates will like each other?" Remus asked, worried that their plan to put them in the same place may go awry. "What if they don't? What if, when the time comes, they force us to choose between them and our friendship?"

"That'll never happen," James replied confidently. "Two people as awesome as us will have equally awesome soulmates."

Remus nodded his head. "Five seconds, four, three, two, one…"

~o~o~o~

James' eyes fluttered open. He took in his surroundings as he climbed to his feet. Something was wrong though; everything looked the same as it had moments ago. Had the universe decided he was undeserving of a soulmate? Well, if that was the case, at least he would be able to get the inside scoop on Remus' soulmate.

He looked down at the man still on the ground and reached down to help him up to his feet. But as he rolled over and his eyes fluttered open, James took a step back, shaking his head

"No, no, no," he muttered as he watched himself clamber to his feet. "This has to be a mistake. I'm into girls. Sexy girls in cardigans."

"The universe makes no mistakes," Remus answered, "but even I have to wonder why it chose us to be soulmates. I've never thought of you in that way except for…"

"Except for what?" James asked, furrowing his eyebrows, wondering what Remus wasn't telling him.

"Don't judge me," Remus said, putting his hands into his pockets, "but back in school, I once had a dream about us."

"Oh really?" James asked, waggling his eyebrows. "Care to elaborate?"

"Not really," Remus answered, blushing, "but maybe one day."

"So what now? James asked. "Do we hold hands? Kiss?"

"How about we go on a date and take it from there?" Remus suggested. "Maybe you'll find you like sexy guys in cardigans too."

"Well, you can pull off a cardigan like no other man I've ever met," James admitted, looking at his reflection mirror on the wall as Remus blushed once again. "You know, I look good when I blush," he commented, turning back to face Remus. "I can't wait to see what you look like when I make you blush in your own body."

"It wouldn't be difficult," Remus admitted.

"Is it strange that I have this overwhelming desire to kiss you… even though you're in my body?" James asked, closing the distance between himself and Remus.

"No, because I feel the same," Remus said as James leant in to kiss him gently on the lips.

Their lips stayed connected for a few moments, barely moving against one another as they relished in the intense connection.

"Well, that was a surreal experience," James laughed as they separated.

"Yeah," Remus replied, feeling a little breathless.

"Let's wait until we're back in our own bodies before doing that again though," James suggested. "And trust me, we will be doing it a lot more."


	2. Haunting Last Words - JamesLily

**Warning:** Character death.

 **Prompt:** Soulmate AU with a sad ending.

 **Word Count:** 942

* * *

Haunting Last Words

Lily stared at the words on her wrist which had plagued her ever since they had appeared on her eleventh birthday.

"I hate you."

How could those be her last words to her soulmate? It sounded so inconceivable to her to be able to say those words to the person who she was destined to be with for the rest of her life. The moment those words appeared on her wrist, Lily made a vow to herself that she would never utter those words to anyone for as long as she lived. And it was a promise she managed to keep-well almost.

She made an exception for James Potter who irritated her beyond belief, but really, how could _he_ be her soulmate? She didn't even like him very much. Unfortunately, that didn't stop her catching herself from saying, "I hate you." to him as often as she could, but every time she did slip up, it became a lot easier for her to utter those words to him.

~o~o~o~

"Evans, come on," James said, racing after her. "Go on a date with me. You know you want to."

"You never quit, do you?" Lily exclaimed, rounding on him. "I wouldn't go on a date with you if you were the last Chaser on earth, so why don't you do me a favour and go chasing after one of your little fan club instead? Heaven knows, a lot of them would love to be your soulmate."

"Because, Lils, you are my soulmate. I can feel it with ever fibre of my being," James said softly, reaching out and stroking her face.

Lily cringed away from his touch. "Don't touch me, James," Lily hissed, trying to ignore her former best friend as he approached

"You heard her, leave Lily alone," Severus said, coming to a standstill beside her.

"I can fight my own battles, Severus," Lily sniped. "Go away."

"Lily-pad," James began.

"And you can too," Lily snapped. "When are you going to get through your bludger-addled brain that I do not, nor will I ever, want to go on a date with you."

"But, Lily, I love you," James said, frowning, reaching out for her again.

"Oh please," Lily snorted. "The only person you love is yourself. I could never love anyone as arrogant and vain as you. I hate you."

With that, Lily turned on her heel and walked away to find her friends, ignoring the tingling feeling in her wrist.

"Why won't you leave it well alone?" she heard Severus say as she walked away. "Lily doesn't want anything to do with you. She hates you. So why don't you just quit whilst you're behind and move on?"

"What's the matter, Snivellus? Jealous?" James taunted as Lily came to a standstill, curious about what his answer would be.

"Me? Jealous? Of what? A mediocre Chaser who stands no chance with the girl I-used to be best friends with?" Snape laughed. "Frankly, Marlene McKinnon stands more chance than you."

As Lily glanced over her shoulder, she saw that both boys had their wands drawn on each other and the tingling in her wrist turned into a burning sensation.

"How dare you suggest such a thing about Lily?" James roared, firing a stinging curse at him. "You're just jealous she wouldn't go near a Death Eater such as yourself, aren't you? What's the matter? Touched a nerve?"

Lily sensed Severus' shoulders tense, as the burning on her wrist grew more intense.

"I am not jealous. And I am not a Death Eater," he seethed, slashing his wand violently in the air and a burst of white light hit James square in the chest.

A scream escaped Lily as James fell to ground, deep wounds and cuts appearing all over his body and his blood seeping onto the grass, turning it crimson.

Her feet instinctively took her towards James, and the burning on her wrist became too uncomfortable to ignore. The words were burning hot and bright upon her skin, but upon her gaze the pain and the words started for disappear.

Confusion crossed her face as she fell to her knees, and Lily stared at the fading words on her wrist. Lily reached out for James' hand, and her eyes fell on the words, "I love you." fading away. The last words James had spoken to her. Everything and everyone surrounding her vanished. She blinked away the tears forming in her eyes as flashes on the six years she had known James Potter.

Their first meeting on the train, and the way, even then, he was the most arrogant person she had had the misfortune to encounter-or at least that's what she had believed at the time.

His infectious smile as he soared through the air on a broomstick.

The way he could be so considerate of others when he thought they weren't watching. A side she remembered wishing he showed more often.

A tear streaked down her cheek.

And then there was the way he continued to pursue her despite her numerous rejections. If only she had been more willing to see past his numerous faults and see the positive traits too. They could have had a good few years together… they could still be together. There could be a chance James would still be alive.

As Lily rose to her feet and turned to glare at the boy she had been proud to call her best friend, she made a vow to herself to avenge James.

"You are going to wish you hadn't done that," Lily whispered, choking back the tears and running away before anyone could say anything.


	3. Five Stages of Accepting James-LilyJames

**OTP Challenge:** Soulmate AU - James/Lily

 **Muggle Studies:** Write a 'Five Stages of …'-themed story

 **Word Count:** 1319

* * *

Five Stages Of Accepting James

Lily stared at the mark on her arm, completely aghast. She had heard stories about people getting tattoos when their soulmate got one and, until now, she had considered herself lucky to have one who respected their body enough to not get permanent ink. Instead, her soulmate preferred to send her sweet messages every day just to ask her how she was. She thought she was already half in love with him and she didn't even know who he was. Now, however, she would quite gladly kill her soulmate, whoever he was.

What kind of idiot got a tattoo of a penis on their arm for the whole world to see?

And, what made matters worse was that the new school year started the next day. How was she going to explain the recent addition to her body? As the new Head Girl she had standards to uphold, especially when she had learnt that the Head Boy would be none other than James Potter.

There was only one thing for it: she would have to find a way to cover it up until she discovered who her soulmate was and managed to convince him to get the crude mark removed from his body.

As she rooted through her closet for a long sleeved jumper, she noticed some untidy writing appear on her arm beneath her new tattoo.

 _Sorry. Me and the boys got a bit worse for wear last night, and my best mate dared me to get this tattoo. But you have to admit, it looks good :)_

Lily huffed at the words and continued to dig through her closet, finally finding her favourite floral jumper and put it on. She wasn't about to dignify the idiot with an answer.

~o~o~o~

"Hey, Evans, how was your summer?" James asked, sliding the carriage door shut behind him.

"Nice of you to join me, Potter," Lily replied coolly as he sat down opposite her. "You're only ten minutes late; that has to be a new record for you. The new prefects will be arriving at the carriage in less than five minutes."

James smirked at her as he leant forward and rested his head on his hands.

"You know you missed me," he said, winking.

"Yes, like a hole in the head," Lily answered dryly, her eyes falling on James' forearm. "What the hell is that on your arm?"

"Oh, you like it?" James asked. "It's a funny story really. Sirius, Remus and I were out the other night and Sirius dared me to get this tattoo. I wasn't so sure about it at first, but I kind of like it."

Lily tugged at the sleeve of her school robes, making sure it was completely covering her arm.

"Actually, I think it's rather crude and certainly not something the Head Boy should have," Lily replied, trying to keep her voice even as her mind tried to process the fact that James Potter was her soulmate. "You should get it removed. What must your soulmate think of you?"

"I don't know," James replied sadly. "She-er-she never replied to my apology, but I'm sure if she had a problem with it, she'd have said something."

"Or maybe she's just hoping you'll realise what an idiotic mistake you've made and sort it without the need to be told," Lily sniped back.

"Is that what you're hoping for?" James asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that your fist has been clenched around the cuff of your sleeve almost since the moment I arrived," he answered. "Got something to hide?"

"I-I have no idea what you mean," Lily replied.

"Well if that's the case you won't mind me seeing your arm," James stated, reaching across the carriage, prying her hand away from her sleeve and rolling it up, "soulmate."

Lily removed her arm from James' grasp, stood up from her seat and walked towards the carriage door.

"My notes for the new prefects are all in my notepad," Lily whispered. "Make sure you use them and don't mess up."

Without waiting for James to reply, Lily exited the carriage and hurried towards the one she knew her friends would be in. She wanted to be as far away from James Potter as possible.

~o~o~o~

The tattoo was gone the next morning when she woke up, and Lily was thankful for that. In the same place was some fresh writing.

 _Lily, I am so sorry. Please forgive me._

Ignoring the words, Lily got dressed for the day ahead. She had to make a good impression to make up for her absence from the prefect meeting on the train and the Sorting Ceremony. She fully expected the whole school to be aware of the fact that somehow the universe had decided she was James' soulmate.

Her arm tingled signalling that fresh words had appeared on her arm. Pulling her sleeve up, Lily read the new message straight away, not wanting to have anything from James on her body for a moment longer than necessary.

 _I haven't told anyone if that's what you think… not even Sirius._

Lily pulled her sleeve back down, wondering how James had read her mind like that, and why he hadn't told anyone. Surely he would have wanted the world to know that he could officially back up what he had been claiming for the last six years.

Confused, Lily picked her bag up from the foot of her bed and made her way down to breakfast.

~o~o~o~

 _Lily, you can't ignore me forever. It's been three weeks. Talk to me please._

 _Lily, I know you're seeing my messages. I'm sorry for everything. It's driving me crazy to know that I've hurt you._

 _It's been five weeks since you last replied. I understand you don't want to talk so this will be my last message until you are ready. You are in my mind and in my heart… forever. Know that I am an idiot… but I hope one day I can be your idiot._

~o~o~o~

True to his word, James had ceased writing to her, and the only contact they had was when they had to as Head Boy and Head Girl. Lily had thought she would feel relief at not seeing his untidy scrawl on her arm, but instead she felt something that could only be described as empty.

She hated to admit it but she missed his words, his crass remarks. Hell she even missed that crude tattoo a little bit.

As she lay in bed one Saturday night in late December, Lily felt restless. She tossed and she turned until finally she sat up in bed and reached for her quill on her bedside table, and wrote a short message on her arm.

 _Meet me by the Great Lake tomorrow at 8pm. I'm ready to talk._

Lily placed the quill back on her bedside table and settled back down to sleep, just as the word, _"Okay"_ appeared on her arm.

~o~o~o~

Lily sat by the lake, under the great oak tree where she and her friends had shared so much fun and laughter over her years at Hogwarts.

"Lily," a voice breathed, "words cannot express how happy I was to see your message last night."

She looked up from the book which she had been attempting to read as she waited, and saw James stood before her, goofy smile and all.

"Despite my better judgement, I miss you. I miss your messages and, for some reason, that dumb tattoo you got," Lily laughed, rising to her feet.

James walked closer towards her, closing the distance between them.

"Do you mean that?" he asked, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear,

"I do," Lily breathed, leaning forward and kissing James chastely on the lips.

"You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that," James whispered against her lips before deepening the kiss.


	4. Second Soulmate? - JamesLily

**Challenge:** Romance Awareness

 **Prompt:** There's a timer on your wrist that counts down to the moment you meet your soulmate.

 **Extra Prompt:** Single Parent AU

 **Word Count:** 936

* * *

Second Soulmate?

James clutched his wife's hand tightly. Tears filled his eyes as he stared at her. She was fading quickly and he was absolutely powerless to do anything about it.

She would never meet their beautiful baby boy and hold him in her arms.

She would never see his first steps or hear his first words.

She would never wave goodbye to him on his first day of school and cry as she always predicted she would throughout her pregnancy.

She would never see him grow into a handsome young man (after all, how could he not with a father like him?). Nor would she see him meet his soulmate, get married and have children of his own.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

"It's not fair!" James yelled, jumping to his and pushing the emergency button by his wife's bed.

In a matter of seconds he was being ushered out of the room by a nurse whilst a team of doctor's worked to resuscitate his wife.

James watched through the window as the doctor shook his head and looked at the clock. Unable to watch anymore, James turned from the window and sank to the floor.

His soulmate was dead. They had only had a few precious years together and now she had been taken from him. He would never know love again.

Thinking of his wife, James turned over his arm as he thought about the first moment they met and the counter on his wrist had reached zero. She had been a vision in blue with the wind blowing in her hair as she walked her dog.

James opened his eyes, smiling at the memory he would share with his son—it was a good memory and one his son should know.

He glanced down at his arm where his counter had disappeared just over three years ago. His eyes widened at the writing on his wrist.

 _4 years, 1 month, 5 days, 30 minutes, 58 seconds._

The number decreased with every second that passed.

 _How was it possible to have another soulmate?_

 _It seemed so strange when he hadn't even had the chance to start properly grieving for his wife who had passed only a matter of minutes ago._

~o~o~o~

Over the next four years James did everything he could to ignore the new counter on his wrist and keep the memory of his late wife alive. He kept it permanently covered to avoid even thinking about this stranger.

Every night he told his son stories about her and the time they had shared together. It seemed so impossible that he had spent more time without her than he had with her.

"Daddy, can I have one more story?" his son asked as James rose to his feet.

"Not tonight, Henry. It's your first day of school tomorrow," James replied. "I'll tell you another story in the morning if there's time."

Henry pouted but nodded his head as he snuggled into bed. "Okay. Night, Daddy."

"Goodnight, son," James replied, kissing his son on the forehead before making his way towards the door and turning out the light.

~o~o~o~

"Henry Monty Potter," James called from the bottom of the stairs. "Hurry up; we're going to be late."

A few moments later excited footsteps came thundering down the stairs.

"Come on, buddy, let's get your shoes on," James said, picking his son and carrying him to the living room.

As James put Henry's shoes on, his son started to fiddle with the bandage on his arm. "Daddy, what's that?"

James lifted his head and looked at where his son was pointing—his wrist where the counter now read:

 _30 minutes, 5 seconds._

"Nothing to worry about," James rushed out, covering it back up and picking up Henry's coat. "Coat on, pal."

As they walked to school, James tried to process how close he was to meeting his new soulmate. Was he ready? He had spent so long making sure he never forgot his son's mother that he hadn't realised he had stopped grieving for her. Sure, he loved her and thought about her daily, but it was forced for Henry's sake. There were days when, if it wasn't for Henry, she wouldn't have crossed his mind.

 _Maybe he was ready to move on._

Deciding it was time to remove the bandage, James took it off and glanced at the tracker just as they reached his son's school.

 _5 minutes._

James stared at the playground full of children. The older ones happy and running freely, and the younger one clinging nervously to their mothers. James wondered if one of them could be his soulmate—at least there would be a chance they would be in the same boat.

He pulled open the gate and walked onto the yard with his son to the point where the parents and children had gathered to meet their children's new teacher.

As a beautiful redhead ran down the school steps, James felt his wrist begin to burn as she approached—it was a feeling he remembered, only this time it was more intense.

"Good morning, I'm Miss Evans, and I am going to be your children's teacher for the year," she said, greeting them all as a group. "Now before I take your children inside, I would like to take the opportunity to greet you all properly."

James watched his counter as it moved from minutes to seconds as Miss Evans moved closer to him.

"Hi, I'm Lily Evans," she whispered, holding her hand out to him.

"James Potter," he replied, taking Lily's hand as his counter hit zero. "And I think we might be soulmates."


End file.
